Ex-dropout, farmer's daughter cop 1st golds

TARLAC PROVINCE , Philippines  – A former high school dropout and a daughter of a rice farmer took the opening day spotlight as they captured the first two gold medals in yesterday’s start of the Palarong Pambansa at the Tarlac Recreational Park in San Jose town here.

Cebu pride Ivan Castaneda, who stopped schooling for three years due to poverty until he had saved enough money as a catering service waiter, ruled the secondary boys long jump event with a 6.82-meter effort to start Central Visayas’ bid for a crack at the overall championship.

Ilocos Region’s Stephanie Cimatu, who lived in a farming town in Bangui, Ilocos Norte known mainly for its 15 towering electric-generating wind turbines fronting the seashore, actually copped the first gold when she topped the secondary girls’ javelin gold with a 38.90m throw.

Cotabato Region’s John Albert Mantua, meanwhile, booked the secondary shot put gold for the second straight year with an 11.58m throw, improving the 10.99m effort he posted in last year’s edition in Tacloban City.

However, the 16-year-old Cimatu, coached by former national team member Erlinda Lavandia and a product of former Gintong Alay head and Ilocos Norte Gov. Michael Keon, fell 10cm short of the 22-year-old mark of 39m by Western Visayas’ Melva Quirino.

Still, the victory more than made for her silver medal finish (36.41m) in the Asian Youth Games in Singapore last year.

“I’m happy I won a medal again,” said Cimatu, who also won in last year’s Palaro in Tacloban (36.64m), in Filipino.

It also netted Cimatu a spot in the national youth training pool.

Ben Silva Netto, Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association secretary-general who is here to help in the conduct of the athletics competitions, said the best performers could earn a berth in the RP squad seeing action in the Southeast Asian Junior Championships in Malaysia this June.

For Castaneda, it was sweeter the second time around.

“I’m happy a good thing happened in my return to schooling,” said Castaneda, a third year student at the Don Carlos Gothong Memorial High School in Cebu City, who also copped a gold in his elementary days three years ago.

In basketball, defending champion National Capital Region, represented by Letran for the second straight year, blasted Cotabato Region, 86-63, while contender Western Visayas overpowered Central Luzon, 75-66.

In football, Western Visayas edged Bicol, 5-4, to set in motion its title bid while NCR and Cotabato fought to a 1-all standoff.

Palaro notes: The DepEd will continue to implement the same scoring system it introduced five years ago in Iloilo. Under the scheme, points are assigned to each individual and team event to get the championship in each sports competition, as applicable, and each sports event is likewise assigned certain points to determine the championship in that discipline. The rankings of regional teams in the elementary and secondary divisions are based on the aggregate points they got in all the sports events they participated in.